Tag: Business Events

The elite of the international events sector is completing the line-up for the inaugural Host City Americas conference, taking place online on 29-30 June.
Recent additions include IOC Members and IF Presidents Ingmar De Vos and Prof. Ugur Erdener on the opening session, during which Prof. Erdener will address the safe staging of the Tokyo Olympic Games during the pandemic.
Peter Hutton, Director of Sports Partnerships at Facebook, Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services and Brian Sullivan, CEO of NEP Group join to discuss The Changing Media Landscape.
Paul J. Foster, CEO, Global Esports Federation, Dr. Melita N. Moore, Board Member and Chair of Health & Wellness Commission, Global Esports Federation and Beng Choo Low, Secretary General, World Baseball-Softball Confederation tackle conversations about leadership in Esports and its role in health.
American event hosts are showing up in force, including Monica Paul, Executive Director, Dallas Sports Commission, Nick Sellers, CEO, The World Games 2022 Organizing Committee and Chris Carroll of the Lake Placid 2023 Winter World University Games, joined by Gary Meador, Director of Event Services Team at Aggreko North America.
Jim Mercurio, Executive Vice President & General Manager at San Francisco 49ers – Levi’s Stadium, Russ Simons, Owner and Managing Partner at Venue Solutions Group, LLC, Tad Bowman, Venue Director, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Denver Coliseum, City and County of Denver and Jeremiah Yolkut, Director, Major League Baseball go “Back to the Future” with Jeff Keas, Senior Principal, Populous to question the impact of Covid-19, on a panel co-produced with the Association of Global Event Suppliers.
Sabrina Ibanez, Secretary General, FEI and Tom Dielen, Secretary General, World Archery join the Workshop on Hosting Events with International Federations, along with Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, VisitScotland and the International Association of Event Hosts.
In keeping with the conference theme of Investing in Events, Host City Americas welcomes Gareth Balch, CEO, Two Circles and David Goldberg, Senior Advisor, TPG and Board Member, GAN.
OnePlan Founder Paul Foster brings expertise and solutions from the frontier of major event planning technology.
Simon Johnson, Chair, Rugby Football League joins Iventis CEO and founder Joe Cusdin to present on event mapping.
And David Grevemberg CBE, Chief Innovation and Partnerships Officer, Centre for Sports and Human Rights moderates the conversation on How Important are ESG Criteria to Event Audiences.
These speakers join other great experts already announced: IOC VP and LA28 Board Member Anita DeFrantz; Sports ETA President & CEO Al Kidd; UNESCO Asst DG Gabriela Ramos; Santiago 2023 chiefs Felipe de Pablo and Juan Carlos Chamy; World Athletics Championships Oregon22’s Niels de Vos; Sports Innovation Lab CEO Angela Ruggiero; World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin; Matt Archambault of Riot Games; Finn Taylor, CEO, Volleyball World; Matt Pound, Director, World Table Tennis; Sarah Lewis OBE; Emily Blitz of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; Mexican Olympic Committee VP Jimena Saldaña; Paralympian Karin Korb; Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee President Brian Lewis; Brazilian Basketball Federation CEO Ricardo Trade and World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr.
Host City Americas is supported by: Official Sustainability Partner Aggreko; Event Delivery Partner NEP Group; Gold Sponsors OnePlan and Orange Sports Forum; and Silver Sponsors Dallas Sports Commission and Iventis.
Global Esports Federation is a Strategic Partner of Host City Americas.
The conference is delivered on the Eden platform by Creative Technology, as part of NEP Group.
Join 1,000+ participants at Host City Americas to discover the opportunities ahead as we emerge from the pandemic to a landscape defined by digitalisation and large-scale investment.

The first Host City Americas takes place one week today – on 29-30 June – with the greatest figures in sports, business and entertainment events tackling a highly topical agenda finalised today.
Host City Americas is broadcast from NEP Group’s Creative Technology studio, with 65 speakers joining from three continents and with an interactive online global audience (register here).
The online conference opens with a Keynote Address from Anita DeFrantz, Vice President, International Olympic Committee and Board Member, LA28. She addresses the sporting, societal, and economic opportunities in the Americas and bring into focus her expertise concerning LA28.
The panel that follows, Emerging from the Perfect Storm, opens with a special update from Prof. U?ur Erdener, Chair of the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission on preparations for a safe Olympics in Tokyo. He’s joined on the panel by Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General, UNESCO, Al Kidd, CEO & President, Sports Events & Tourism Association and fellow IOC Members Ingmar De Vos, President, International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and Anita DeFrantz.
The Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Organizing Committee’s CEO Felipe de Pablo, and CCO & CMO Juan Carlos Chamy then give a Project Update. Later in the day, they chair a workshop where international experts ask about opportunities to get involved in the project.
Erin Bromaghim, Director of Olympic and Paralympic Development, Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles and David Siegel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Sports Council and Southern California Committee speak on the panel “Creating legacy before, during and after large-scale events”, joined by Mickel Beckers, Director of Sports, Culture and Education, City of Rotterdam and Rick Sleegers, International Affairs at Orange Sports Forum, which is co-producing the panel.
After a presentation on “Creating Digital Twins for Major Events to Unlock Operational and Commercial Value” from Paul Foster, CEO & Founder, OnePlan, the third panel, “Leading the World with Esports”, stars Beng Choo Low, Secretary General, World Baseball-Softball Confederation, Paul J. Foster, Chief Executive Officer, Global Esports Federation, Matt Archambault, Head of Partnerships & Business Development I Esports I North America & Oceania, Riot Games.
This is followed by a presentation from Monica Paul, Executive Director, Dallas Sports Commission
Panel 4 asks the question “Can Private Investment Save Traditional Sports?”, with Finn Taylor, CEO, Volleyball World, Matt Pound, Director, World Table Tennis and Gareth Balch, CEO, Two Circles.
The following panel, coproduced with NEP Group, explores “The Changing Media Landscape” with Peter Hutton, Director of Sports Partnerships, Facebook, Yiannis Exarchos, CEO, Olympic Broadcasting Services and Brian Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of NEP Group, with Katie Traxton, Chief Communications Officer of Formula E sharing insights on working with influencers.
Three more organising committee leaders: Niels de Vos, Executive Director, World Athletics Championships Oregon22; Nick Sellers, CEO, The World Games 2022 Organizing Committee and Chris Carroll of Lake Placid 2023 Winter World University Games; join Gary Meador, Director of Event Services Team at Aggreko North America to discuss the challenges and opportunities of “Organizing major events in the Americas in 2022 and beyond”.
Day Two opens with a workshop on Hosting Events with International Federations, in which Event Hosts and International Federations exchange hosting plans, priorities and requirements. Coproduced with the International Association of Event Hosts (IAEH), the speakers are: Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, VisitScotland; Janelle Janis, Director, Edmonton Events; Nichapa Yoswee, Senior Vice President in Business Development of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB); Sabrina Ibanez, Secretary General, FEI; Jim Scherr, CEO, World Lacrosse and Tom Dielen, Secretary General, World Archery.
This is followed by a presentation, Digital Transformation in Major Event Planning from Simon Johnson, Chair, Rugby Football League and Joe Cusdin, CEO & Founder, Iventis.
The topic of “How to Capture and Retain Audience Attention” is tackled by panellists: Emily Blitz, Digital Event Strategist, Inter-Parliamentary Union; Tom Andrus, COO, AXS; Sarah Lewis OBE OLY, Global Sports Leader, Presidential Candidate FIS 2021; and Sara Kvarfordh, Communication Manager, Stora Enso – presenting sponsor of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.
The next panel, sponsored by Aggreko, asks “How Important are ESG Criteria to Event Audiences?”, with expert views from Jimena Saldaña, Vice President, Mexican Olympic Committee, Brian Lewis, President, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee and Karin Korb, Paralympian and Para-Sport Consultant.
The theme of sustainability continues in a presentation on “Racing for the future, racing for purpose” from Willie Cruickshank, Race Series Director, World Championship Air Race.
In Panel 9, Alan Gilpin, CEO, World Rugby, Angela Ruggiero, Co-Founder & CEO, Sports Innovation Lab and Ricardo Fort, Founder, Sport by Fort Consulting bring tips on “Expanding the Frontiers of an Event’s Commercial Ecosystem” before Gideon Clark, Business Director, Mailman Group USA presents on “The Next Age of the Global Sports Tourist”.
For Panel 10, coproduced with the Association of Global Event Suppliers, we go “Back to the Future” to find out “How COVID-19 Has (and Hasn’t) Changed Live Events” with Jim Mercurio, Executive Vice President & General Manager at San Francisco 49ers – Levi’s Stadium, Jeremiah Yolkut, Director, Major League Baseball, Russ Simons, Owner and Managing Partner at Venue Solutions Group, LLC and Tad Bowman, Venue Director, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Denver Coliseum, City and County of Denver.
Eoghan Gill, Director of Strategy at S2|FOAMHAND gives a presentation on safe and secure event hosting. 
Host City Americas closes with a panel on how all stakeholders in the events industry can “Get fit for the future”, with David Goldberg, Senior Advisor, TPG and Board Member, GAN, Dr. Melita N. Moore, Board Member and Chair of Health & Wellness Commission, Global Esports Federation and Ricardo Trade, CEO, Brazilian Basketball Federation and former CEO of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Host City Americas is supported by:
Event Delivery Partner NEP Group; Official Sustainability Partner Aggreko; Gold Sponsor Orange Sports Forum; Preferred Events Technology Partner OnePlan and Silver Sponsors Dallas Sports Commission and Iventis.
Edmonton Events, S2|FOAMHAND, Mailman, Global Esports Federation and World Championship Air Race are Strategic Partners to Host City Americas.
The conference is delivered on the Eden platform by Creative Technology, as part of NEP Group.
Join 1,000+ participants at Host City Americas to discover the opportunities ahead as we emerge from the pandemic to a landscape defined by digitalisation and large-scale investment.

For more information visit www.hostcity.com or email ben.avison@hostcity.com

Under the conference theme of “Investing in Events”, speakers at the inaugural Host City Americas digital conference voiced optimism about the post-Covid recovery for the events industry and offered fresh ideas and solutions to global challenges.
With FIFA soon to select the 23 host cities for the 2026 World Cup and Santiago staging the 2023 Pan and Parapan American Games ahead of the much-anticipated 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics, the two-day conference debated the hot-button issues affecting them.
A global audience of close to a thousand, including IOC members, sports ministers and leaders of event organizing committees and international federations, registered for the first meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events for the Americas.
The themes of post-Covid recovery, digitalization, sustainability, private investment, esports and the changing media landscape all resonated with those in attendance.
The two-day conference opened on Tuesday with a keynote address from Anita DeFrantz, an IOC vice president. Speaking of a world ravaged by the coronavirus, she said the sports industry was forced “to examine everything” as events took a financial hit. But through virtual offices, new visions of how to produce and present sports had emerged.
Three weeks before the postponed Tokyo Olympics get underway, she said the execution of Games planning for event organizers and athletes had been hugely challenging against the backdrop of the pandemic. Preparing to host 11,000 athletes from 206 countries to compete in 33 sports was a tough undertaking for the IOC and Tokyo organizers.
“We may face similar issues with Beijing 2022. The good news is we will have the experience of Tokyo to make certain things go well. The Olympics and Paralympics can bring back the joy,” she told delegates.
The first panel, ‘Emerging from the perfect storm’, brought pandemic recovery issues front and centre.
Prof. U?ur Erdener, president of the Turkish NOC, head of World Archery and Chair of the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission, said the global vaccination program led him to believe “we are approaching the exit of the dark tunnel”.
Through measures to combat the virus, the chair of the IOC’s medical commission insisted the Olympic governing body and Games stakeholders in Japan had worked hard to create a “safe and secure environment for athletes and participants in the Games, but also the people of Japan”.
Ingmar De Vos, president of the International Equestrian Federation and an IOC member, revealed that the FEI has suffered like all sports due to the pandemic, with 1,200 international events cancelled and revenues down 60 per cent.
The federation responded by cutting costs and rethinking travel for sporting events and meetings on governance.
“For future events I think we learnt a lot… to have other ways to engage with fans by introducing new technologies and new ways to follow the sport by explaining it better,” he added, raising the prospect of innovations to deliver shorter formats for FEI events to grow appeal to mass audiences.
Al Kidd, CEO and president of the Sports Events & Tourism Association, also spoke about a shift in the consumption of live events via multiple platforms as new technologies are adopted. Evaluation metrics are widening from economic impact to traction on digital and social media.
Gabriela Ramos, assistant director general of UNESCO, said it was vital for sport to be part of policies to help countries, cities and communities emerge from the pandemic.
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games organizing committee CEO Felipe de Pablo and Juan Carlos Chamy, CCO and CMO, gave an update on what is billed as “the most important event in the history of our country”.
Progress was sustained through the pandemic, Chamy said. The 1,300-apartment Games Village was a significant infrastructure project, while work on new and renovated venues was hitting deadlines. Tenders are still to be awarded for services including food and beverage, broadcasting, ticketing and merchandising. A workshop later in the day, chaired by Dave Crump, CEO of Creative Technology – from whose studio Host City Americas was broadcast – enabled international suppliers to address questions to Chamy about these opportunities.
De Pablo said the Games for over 8,000 athletes from 41 countries will leave a positive legacy for Chilean sports. “We have a lot of tasks but we are confident in delivering and meeting the expectations of visitors, he said.
Another panel, co-produced with Orange Sports Forum, explored how to create legacies for large-scale events. Speakers included Erin Bromaghim, director of Olympic and Paralympic development for the Mayor of Los Angeles office, David Siegel, president and CEO of Los Angeles Sports Council, and Mickel Beckers, director of sports, culture and education for the Dutch city Rotterdam.
Rick Sleegers, head of international affairs for Orange Sports Forum, a platform for internationally promoting companies, organizations and institutes that have a connection with Dutch sport, spoke about creating a footballing legacy in China through the development of 50 Cruyff Courts over the next five years.
He also highlighted a grassroots football plan for India that involved a partnership between the country’s football federation and PSV Eindhoven and included “an exchange of coaches and sharing of knowledge expertise”. The FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 was part of the “masterplan for youth” to help generate potential football players.
With 13 professional sports teams in Los Angeles, more than any city in world, and the Olympics, Superbowl, FIFA World Cup hosting and MLB’s 2022 All-Star Game coming, Siegel said the city is “uniquely positioned to capitalize on this” from an economic, sustainability and accessibility standpoint.
Bromaghim said LA had been a game-changer for the Olympic movement in 1984 and was poised to do so again. “Sustainability and reuse are baked into our hosting model,” she said, adding that LA Mayor Eric Garcetti had pulled forward an Olympic legacy program to make sport and fitness more accessible.
The presentation by Paul Foster, CEO and founder of OnePlan provided interesting insights into how the company’s digital technologies for major events can unlock operational and commercial value.
Used by events and venues in over 50 countries and by the likes of Arsenal FC, FIBA and World Triathlon, the technology simplifies and improves event planning and management. “What excel is to an accountant, OnePlan is to an event planner,” Foster said, going on to explain how the fully interactive “digital twin of your venue” offers scenario planning, with 3D digital assets helping to sell commercial space.
World Baseball-Softball Confederation secretary general Beng Choo Low joined Paul J. Foster, CEO of the Global Esports Federation and Matt Archambault of Riot Games to examine esports leadership issues and how gaming fits into the Olympic Movement.
Discussing the results of an audience poll that revealed divided opinions over what kind of electronic sports should be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games, Archambault revealed that Riot was in dialogue with the IOC about this possibility, while Low said only virtual sports with physical activity could be included and Foster wisely said such matters should be left to the Olympic Movement to decide.
Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, gave a presentation on how the city had been transformed into a premier international sports destination from its hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 1994 to the Concacaf Gold Cup kicking off in July.
In a fascinating session on ‘The changing media landscape’, co-produced in partnership with NEP Group, Peter Hutton, Facebook’s director of sports partnerships, talked about how social media could harness the power to connect rights holders with fans in authentic ways. “Live sports need to be on platforms where younger audiences are… to create interesting experiences. It can really grow the sports for the future.”
Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services, said there was a shift among traditional broadcasters to embrace opportunities for ongoing engagement and interactivity with fans, which had led the IOC to create its own digital platform – the Olympic Channel. “It’s a great opportunity for all rights holders.”
Brian Sullivan, CEO of NEP Group, said technology had to catch up with changing consumer desires and trends and talked about the company’s cloud-based production aiding facilities in the US, Australia and The Netherlands. “It’s a very exciting time. There’s a huge amount of innovation coming in the next 5-10 years. The lesson is ‘try to reinvent yourself before you need to’.”
Day one of the conference wrapped with a session focused on organizing major events in the Americas in 2022 and beyond.
Niels de Vos, executive director of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, said state support didn’t waver when the event was postponed a year: “They stood behind us because, like most people, they see events as a great celebration”.
Gary Meador, director of event services at Aggreko North America, a conference partner, said the pandemic challenges led the company to develop technologies to raise air quality. “We have spent a lot of time thinking how we can emerge stronger and help our host city partners and federations,” he said. “We have developed a significant amount of different power options for customers, different ways of helping event organizers meet their sustainability goals.”
Join Host City Americas now for a thrilling second day with speakers leading VisitScotland, Edmonton Events, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), World Lacrosse, IAEH, Rugby Football League, Iventis, Inter-Parliamentary Union, AXS, Stora Enso, Mexican Olympic Committee, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, World Championship Air Race, Sports Innovation Lab, World Rugby, Mailman Group, San Francisco 49ers – Levi’s Stadium, Major League Baseball, City and County of Denver, Populous, S2|FOAMHAND, Concacaf and more.  
Host City Americas is brought to you in partnership with Event Delivery Partners NEP Group and Creative Technology, Official Sustainability Partner Aggreko; Gold Sponsor Orange Sports Forum; Preferred Event Technology Partner OnePlan, Silver Sponsors Dallas Sports Commission and Iventis; Strategic Partners Edmonton Events, Global Esports Federation, Mailman, S2|FOAMHAND and World Championship Air Race.

A global audience, including IOC members, FIFA, sports ministers and leaders of event organizing committees and international federations, united for the first meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events for the Americas on 29-30 June.
The two-day conference opened with a keynote address from IOC vice president Anita DeFrantz. Speaking of a world ravaged by the coronavirus, she said the sports industry was forced “to examine everything” as events took a financial hit. But through virtual offices, new visions of how to produce and present sports had emerged.
Three weeks before the postponed Tokyo Olympics get underway, she said the execution of Games planning for event organizers and athletes had been hugely challenging against the backdrop of the pandemic.
“We may face similar issues with Beijing 2022. The good news is we will have the experience of Tokyo to make certain things go well. The Olympics and Paralympics can bring back the joy,” she told delegates.
Prof. U?ur Erdener, head of World Archery and Chair of the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission, said the global vaccination program led him to believe “we are approaching the exit of the dark tunnel”.
Gabriela Ramos, assistant director general of UNESCO, said it was vital for sport to be part of policies to help countries, cities and communities emerge from the pandemic.
Erin Bromaghim, director of Olympic and Paralympic development for the Mayor of Los Angeles office, said LA had been a game-changer for the Olympic movement in 1984 and was poised to do so again in 2028. “Sustainability and reuse are baked into our hosting model,” she said.
David Siegel, president and CEO of Los Angeles Sports Council, pointed out that with more professional sports teams than any city in world, and the Olympics, Superbowl, FIFA World Cup and MLB’s 2022 All-Star Game on the horizon, LA is “uniquely positioned to capitalize on this.”
Among several organizing committees present was Santiago 2023, who gave an update on what they described as “the most important event in the history of our country”, with CEO Felipe de Pablo saying “We have a lot of tasks but we are confident in delivering and meeting the expectations of visitors.”
Peter Hutton, Facebook’s director of sports partnerships, talked about how social media could harness the power to connect rights holders with fans in authentic ways. “Live sports need to be on platforms where younger audiences are… to create interesting experiences. It can really grow the sports for the future.”
Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services, said there was a shift among traditional broadcasters to embrace opportunities for ongoing engagement and interactivity with fans, which had led the IOC to create its own digital platform – the Olympic Channel. “It’s a great opportunity for all rights holders.”
Brian Sullivan, CEO of NEP Group, said technology had to catch up with changing consumer desires and trends. “It’s a very exciting time. There’s a huge amount of innovation coming in the next 5-10 years. The lesson is ‘try to reinvent yourself before you need to’.”
Karin Korb, Paralympian and a Para-Sport consultant, urged event planners and rights holders to bring Gen Zers and millennials to the decision-making table to get their perspectives on environmental, social and governance questions.
Angela Ruggiero, co-founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab suggested that gambling presented host cities with interesting possibilities to grow revenue streams. “The question is how federations and sport grapple with the sensitivities around it.”
On NFTs, she said: “It’s definitely the shiny new object right now. If you’re getting into it, be very thoughtful. It’s a big opportunity to allow fans to own something wherever they are in the world.
In his closing remarks, conference director Ben Avison said: “According to our audience polls, all the changes we’ve been discussing here over the last two days – managing the pandemic, digitalization, private investment, ESG criteria – are having a positive impact on live events.”
Host City Americas was staged in partnership with Event Delivery Partner NEP Group, Official Sustainability Partner Aggreko; Gold Sponsor Orange Sports Forum; Preferred Event Technology Partner OnePlan, Silver Sponsors Dallas Sports Commission and Iventis; Strategic Partners Edmonton Events, Global Esports Federation, Mailman, S2|FOAMHAND and World Championship Air Race.
Following the first Host City Americas, the eight global Host City 2021 event takes place in Glasgow on 7-8 December. Follow www.hostcity.com for updates.